Yes, that’s correct. We’ve now gone over the 175 inch mark for snow accumulation this winter, and today the sky continues to drop down the white stuff at a steady pace of about an inch an hour.
I got up early this morning — 5:30 a.m. to be exact — and sprinted to the kitchen to flip on the outside lights. I wanted to see what was happening with the snow, of course. And, hardly surprised, I saw that the snow had continued to fall throughout the night and was relentless. We haven’t had a winter like this since I can remember! My first thought was to get angry. Darn! Another day of fighting the icy, snow-covered roads to get to work. Another day of frozen feet. Another day without sunshine. But then………..
I put on a pot of delicious coffee to perk, and grabbed my most favorite soft blanket in all of the world, and began to rethink this entire snow thing. Okay. So, it’s snowing. So what? The snow is beautiful. It’s white and clean and fresh and soft. And, on top of all of that, my life is way too full of blessings to let snowflakes take away my joy.
So, I began counting my blessings, naming them one-by-one: hugs and kisses, love notes and love texts (hey, it’s 2010~~~we text love letters these days!), wonderful kids and the most awesome grandkids, a family who loves me unconditionally. Okay, I know….getting kind of sappy, but it’s true.
As I sipped on my steaming coffee, I thought of more and more blessings: a warm home, peace in my life, friends to die for, a wonderful job, the privilege to teach (something I LOVE to do!), delicious food, electricity, a computer, a car, a phone, and Oscar. How could I ever forget my dog, Oscar? He showers me with sloppy, bad-breath kisses every day whether or not I deserve them. He’s my forever and always bud!
Sure there’s more: the freedom I enjoy living in this land of abundance, kindness shown to me every day, eyesight, hearing, the ability to walk and talk, good health. God. God is central to my life and the foundation of everything I do. How much I thank Him for putting people in my life when I was a child who told me about my God. Thank you, Grandmom!!! Thank you to my mom and dad. Sisters. What a blessing — one in heaven and one on earth. My cup overflows with blessings.
See what I mean? I could go on for hours naming the awesome people and blessings in my life!!! Now, don’t get jealous and get thinking my life is ALL blessings and no pain. Are you kidding me? Everybody alive has lots of pain and heartache, and I’ve often been “Queen of Pain”, but…you know what? Pain always leads me right back to the same thing — counting my blessings. I hope if you’re having a rough kind of day today that you’ll grab a cup of coffee, tea or hot cocoa and start counting, too. Yeah. I’m counting the inches of snow that keeps falling, but I’m counting my blessings, too, and I think you can guess which pile is adding up the quickest!
Hang in there…….the snow will one day melt and winter will leave. But, your blessings are FOREVER!!!! Count them one-by-one, and fill that heart of yours with joy!
I love you bunches!
Clara